Climate change is creating fruit fly-friendly conditions in Tasmania, which could threaten the island state's fruit exports to Asian markets. Fruit growers and a biosecurity scientist have warned exporters that millions of dollars worth of product could soon be in jeopardy if the situation continues.
Apple grower Tim Reid said major importers in lucrative markets in China and Japan could turn away Tasmanian produce if the fruit fly makes its way across the Bass Strait.
Professor Anthony Clarke, a fruit fly expert with the national Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre, said as Tasmania's climate continues to change, the risk of a fruit fly infiltration grows.
"(Having) slightly warmer conditions all season long increases the risk that a small fruit fly population can establish," Clarke said on Monday.
"A reduction of even two or three really hard cold days in winter increases the chances of fruit fly surviving during the winter period."
Phil Pyke from Fruit Growers Tasmania said growers were particularly worried about how it will affect their business going forward.
"Since it became endemic in Victoria the risks are really increasing."
